Upper esophageal sphincter motility in gastroesophageal reflux disease in the light of the high-resolution manometry.

This study aims to evaluate the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) motility in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as compared to healthy volunteers. We retrospectively studied the HRM tests of 44 patients (median age: 61 years, 54% females) under evaluation for GERD. The manometric UES parameters of these patients were compared to 40 healthy volunteers (median age: 27 years, 50% females). Almost half of the patients had a short and hypotonic UES. Patients with extraesophageal symptoms had a higher proportion of hypotonic UES as compared to patients with esophageal symptoms. Reflux pattern did not influence manometric parameters. Proximal reflux (any number of episodes) was present in 37(84%) patients (median number of proximal episodes = 6). Manometric parameters are similar in the presence or absence of proximal reflux. There is not a correlation between the UES length and UES basal pressure. In conclusion, our results show that: (1) the manometric profile of the UES in patients with GERD is characterized by a short and hypotonic UES in half of the patients; (2) this profile is more pronounced in patients with extraesophageal symptoms; and (3) neither the presence of proximal reflux nor reflux pattern bring a different manometric profile.

Perceptual Experience of Visual Motion Activates hMT+ Independently From the Physical Reality: fMRI Insights From the Looming Pinna Figure.

The human motion processing area, hMT+, has been labeled the critical neural area for processing of real and illusory visual motion in radial 2D patterns. However, the activation in hMT+ during perception of illusory rotation in the looming double-circular Pinna Figure (PF) generated in 3D space has not been observed yet. To do so, an optic-flow like motion of rings (looming) in PF was generated on a computer screen. A psychophysically precise nulling procedure allowed quantifying the individual amount of the perceived illusory rotation in PF (PI) for each participant. The interpolation of the individual illusory motion parameters created a subjectively non-rotating PF and a physically rotating control stimulus of identical rotary strength as the PI. The physically rotating control was a double-circular figure which diverged from PF only in its arrangement of luminance gradients. In a 3-Tesla scanner, participants were presented with a random order of rotating and non-rotating figures (illusory, real, no rotation, and nulled PI). Both types, illusory and real rotation, when equal in perceptual strength for the observer, were found to be processed by hMT+.

A new visual illusion of relative motion.

We present a remarkably simple illusion that manifests whenever a certain class of flat static patterns are moved across our peripheral visual field. A relative motion is perceived in a direction perpendicular to the true motion. Translatory, looming, and rotational movements of the head or the pattern can all elicit it. Each pattern is constructed of simple elements that define, through luminance, an orientation polarity. This polarity could be encoded by spatiotemporally tuned, orientation sensitive units in area V1. We offer an explanation for the illusion based on how such units from V1 may be combined to feed the processes that subsequently interpret motion.

Surface color from boundaries: a new 'watercolor' illusion.

A colored line flanking a darker border will appear to assimilate its color onto the enclosed white area over distances of up to 45 deg (the Watercolor Effect). This coloration is uniform and complete within 100 ms. We found that thin (6 arcmin), winding inducing lines with different contrasts to the ground are generally more effective than thick, straight, and equiluminant lines. Blue and red lines induce the strongest effects, but watercolor spreading may also be seen with green and yellow. On a white background, color spreading is stronger than on chromatic, gray or black backgrounds. Little or no color is perceived when a narrow white zone (gap) is inserted in between the two inducing lines. However, chains of colored dots instead of continuous lines suffice to produce spreading. Edge-induced color is also observed when the two colored lines are presented dichoptically, suggesting a cortical origin. The Watercolor Effect described here may serve to enhance figure-ground segregation by imparting surface color onto the enclosed area, and to promote grouping between distant stimulus elements. As a grouping factor, watercolor coloration wins over proximity. Assimilative color spreading may arise in two steps: First, weakening of the contour by lateral inhibition between differentially activated edge cells (local diffusion); and second, unbarriered flow of color onto the enclosed area (global diffusion).

Anomalous contours and illusion of angularity: phenomenal and theoretical comparisons.

Many experimental comparisons between real and anomalous contours have proven the functional equivalence of the two conditions; however, there are some contradictory findings. One of these is obtained by analyzing the anomalous contours in the light of a new illusion, called the 'illusion of angularity'. A circle becomes a polygon when it covers the centre of a radial arrangement of black stripes, and a polygon changes its perceptual shape depending on its orientation with respect to the same radial arrangement. Phenomenally, it appears like a very pointed polygon, in which every side is concave or, alternatively, a shape that looks like a circle with angles added in the spaces between the radial stripes, or a polygonal shape in which every side is convex. The reciprocal anomalous counterparts of these conditions, obtained by removing the geometrical/polygonal contours, reveal different results. In the first case, one sees a perfect circle; in the second case, a polygon with blunted vertices, or a circular shape with angular protrusions; in the third case, a deformed circle. These results are inconsistent with some theoretical models proposed to explain the emergence of anomalous contours, namely, all the top-down models expressed in terms of cognitive constructions and perceptual hypotheses, or in terms of global figural organizations. Rather, these comparisons suggest a different interpretation for the two phenomena (the illusion of angularity and anomalous contours). This interpretation is based on dynamic interactions or on network computations that synthesize both real and anomalous contours.

Observations on stroboscopic induced motion.

Subject-relative explanations of motion induction state that induced motion is the result of a misperceived shift of the median plane of the visual field of the subject. This theory does not require relative motion of the spot and frame, in the classical spot-and-frame condition, only asymmetrical stimulation. Three experiments are reported in which stroboscopic induced motion was investigated. The experimental arrangement was unconventional in that the induced object (spot) was presented only during the interstimulus interval between the exposures of the inducing object (frame). This allowed differentiation of the duration of the induced movement and that of the inducing one. In the first experiment it was demonstrated that perception of induced motion depends upon the duration of the interstimulus interval between the presentations of the inducing frame. In the second experiment it was shown that the perceived velocity of the induced movement can be different from that of the inducing one and depends on the duration of exposure of the induced object. In the third experiment a stimulus display was created in which the apparent displacement of an object and its induced motion are incongruous. The results are incompatible with subject-relative displacement as the sole determining factor of motion induction and they present some difficulties for the hypothesis that induced motion is the result of the apportionment of the objective displacement of the frame.

A dynamic model for anomalous figures: the shape of line-induced brightness modifications.

It is recognized that a fundamental role in the perception of anomalous figures is played by the intensity and shape of brightness modifications induced by line ends. The aim of this work was to study the structure of these modifications experimentally, by using variously arranged dots as probes. It was thus assumed that dots can measure activations generated inside abrupt line ends. The results show distribution of activation which differs according to dot distance and angle with respect to the continuation of the line near its end. These data do not agree with the predictions of information processing models in the literature on anomalous figures, which are based on perceptually postulated figures accounting for unlikely gaps. However, they do agree with the dynamic model proposed here, which is based on the idea that certain figure characteristics, eg the differential brightness of anomalous figures, depend on activation distribution which in turn depends on the organization of the forces in play. This idea is rooted in Gestalt theory. Another model supported by our experimental data is Grossberg's neural dynamic approach. In this case too, the basic idea is that of activation distribution which depends on the interaction of complex neural networks functioning according to special algorithms.

Amodal completion versus induced inhomogeneities in the organization of illusory figures.

An analysis is presented of a phenomenological model of illusory contours. The model is based on amodal completion as the primary factor giving rise to the illusory figure. In the experiment, conducted by the method of paired comparisons, the same parameter was manipulated in two series of equivalent configurations. The first series yielded examples of amodal completion, the second examples of illusory figures. Three groups of subjects evaluated the magnitude of completion, the brightness contrast of the illusory figure, and the contour clarity of the illusory figure. A control experiment was conducted, which demonstrated that in these configurations amodal completion and amodal continuation behave in the same way. Line displacement did not influence the brightness or the contour clarity of the illusory figures, though it influenced the magnitude of amodal completion. These results are in agreement with the energetic model developed by Sambin.

Last but not least.

New variations of the spiral illusion are demonstrated. They include spiral illusions of the Café Wall illusion and the Zöllner illusion, as well as other new orientation illusions. Thus the spiral illusion is not limited to the Fraser illusion. We discuss the role that detectors of spirals in a higher visual area might play in the spiral illusion.

Role of rHuEpo on blood transfusions in preterm infants after the fifteenth day of life.

The specific aim of the study was to assess the safety and efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) in reducing the need for blood transfusions in preterm infants after the 15th day of life. Between 1 October 1994 and 1 October 1995, 107 preterm infants, gestational age < or = 34 weeks, were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and received rHuEpo subcutaneously, 900 U/kg week-1, 3 times weekly, supplemented with iron and vitamin E. Treatment was started at 8 days of life and lasted from a minimum of 6 weeks to a maximum of 3 months. A total of 116 preterm infants of the same gestational age, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1992, served as controls. Entry criteria were gestational age < or = 34 weeks and no major congenital malformation. There were no differences in routine care between the two groups. Hematological measurements and transfusion requirements were followed during therapy. The infants were divided into two groups according to birth weight (< 1500 g and > or = 1500 g), and for each group the number of patients who received blood transfusions and when blood transfusions occurred, before or after the 15th day of life, was recorded. There was a statistically significant difference only for transfusions carried out after the 15th day of life (p < 0.002). No adverse effects attributable to rHuEpo during the treatment were noted. The results indicate that early rHuEpo treatment, in combination with iron supplements, is effective in reducing the need for blood transfusions in preterm infants after the 15th day of life.